Massachusetts property deeds
Deed rules are state law, and Massachusetts's differ from its neighbors in ways that decide whether your document records or comes back. Here is the whole picture: which deeds exist here, how they have to be signed, what the recorder wants on the page, and what it costs.
- Recording office
- Registry of Deeds
- Witnesses
- Notary only
- Transfer tax
- $4.56 per $1,000 of consideration
- First-page margin
- 3″ top
- Recording fee
- $155 per document
- E-recording
- Approved submitters
Deeds Massachusetts recognizes
| Deed | What it does | Available? |
|---|---|---|
| Quitclaim deed | Transfers the property with quitclaim covenants: the grantor stands behind the title only against claims arising through the grantor. | Yes |
| General warranty deed | Transfers ownership with the strongest title guarantees the law allows. | Yes |
| Special warranty deed | Transfers ownership, but only guarantees the title for the period you owned it. | Yes |
| Transfer-on-death deed | Names who inherits your property, skips probate, and changes nothing while you're alive. | No |
| Lady Bird Deed | An enhanced life estate deed: you keep total control for life, and the property passes automatically at death. | No |
| Life estate deed | You keep the right to live in the property for life; named remaindermen own it after you. | Yes, less common |
| Gift deed | Transfers property to someone as an outright gift, for no payment. | Yes, less common |
Massachusetts does not recognize transfer-on-death deeds and lady bird deeds, so recording one here may not do what you want.
How a deed has to be signed in Massachusetts
Massachusetts requires the grantor's signature to be acknowledged before a notary public. No witnesses are required. At least one grantor's signature must be acknowledged, before a notary public or a justice of the peace (Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 183, §§ 29, 30). Deedly has every grantor acknowledge before a notary.
| Requirement | Rule |
|---|---|
| Notarization | Required. Each signer must appear before the notary and acknowledge the signature. |
| Witnesses | None |
| Preparer statement | Customary, not required |
| Grantee address on the deed | Required |
| Prior deed reference | Required |
| Spousal joinder | A married owner's spouse who is not on the title but lives in the home must sign the deed, or sign a release of homestead, to end the homestead (Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 188, § 10). Without that signature, the deed ends it only by stating, under the penalties of perjury, that no spouse or former spouse has homestead rights in the property or that it is not their home, and Deedly prints that statement for you to complete. Deeds between spouses, or between a life tenant and a remainderman, do not end the homestead without an express release (§ 10(b)). |
Massachusetts document formatting rules
A safe layout for Massachusetts is 8.5 × 11 inch paper with a 3-inch clear space at the top of the first page for the registry of deeds' stamp, 1-inch margins elsewhere, and no type smaller than 10 point. That is the profile Deedly formats every Massachusetts document to. Writing into the recorder's stamp area is the most common formatting rejection there is.
Massachusetts transfer tax and recording fees
Massachusetts charges Deeds excise tax at $4.56 per $1,000 of consideration ($2.28 per $500), or $6.48 per $1,000 in Barnstable County, where a county excise is added. Customarily paid by the grantor. No Massachusetts city or town levies its own transfer tax. The only additions are the Barnstable County excise and the Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard Land Bank fees. Barnstable County's $6.48 per $1,000 is a $3.42 state excise plus a $3.06 county excise. Elsewhere the $2.28 per $500 is the $2.00 per $500 of Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 64D, § 1 plus a 14% surcharge (St. 1969, c. 546, § 23), as the Department of Revenue's Directive 95-4 and the registers of deeds' Deed Indexing Standards explain. In Dukes County (Martha's Vineyard) and Nantucket, the buyer pays a 2% Land Bank transfer fee on the purchase price unless an exemption applies, and every deed, including a gift or other exempt transfer, must first be processed through the Land Bank, with its Form 1 (Nantucket) or Form LB1 (Martha's Vineyard) and an exemption form (Nantucket Form 1 Part D, Martha's Vineyard Form LB2) when one is claimed, before the registry records it. The state excise applies only when the consideration is more than $100 (Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 64D, § 1), so a bona fide gift owes none (DOR Directive 89-16), but a spouse or relative who pays is taxed on the price.
Common exemptions: deeds for a consideration of $100 or less, including bona fide gifts, deeds between spouses under a divorce judgment, when the deed says so and gives the court and docket number, and deeds to or from the commonwealth, one of its cities or towns, or the federal government, or any of their agencies.
Recording fees run $155 per document. Massachusetts registries charge a flat $155 to record a deed, whatever its length. That includes the $50 Community Preservation Act surcharge (Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 44B, § 8).
See how Massachusetts's transfer tax and recording fee compare with other states.
How to hold title in Massachusetts
- Sole ownership. One person owns everything.
- Tenancy in common. Separate, divisible shares with no survivorship. A deceased owner's share goes to their heirs.
- Joint tenancy with right of survivorship. Equal shares; the survivor takes the whole property automatically.
- Tenancy by the entirety. Married couples only, with automatic survivorship and, in most states that allow it, protection from one spouse's creditors.
What the law presumes for married couples
In Massachusetts, a deed to a married couple creates a tenancy in common unless the deed expressly says they take as tenants by the entirety, or as joint tenants (Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 184, § 7). If you want the survivor to take the whole property, the deed must say so.
Where to record a deed in Massachusetts
Deeds are recorded with the Registry of Deeds in the county where the property is located. Massachusetts has 14 counties. E-recording in Massachusetts is limited to eligible submitters, such as attorneys, title insurance companies, banks and credit unions, government agencies and licensed surveyors, and a deed exempt from the deeds excise can be e-recorded only with the registry's approval (Massachusetts Deed Indexing Standards 20-2, 20-5). Homeowners record in person or by mail.
Middlesex South · Worcester · Suffolk · Norfolk · Plymouth · Essex South · Hampden · Middlesex North · Essex North · Bristol North · Barnstable · Bristol South · Hampshire · Fall River · Worcester North · Berkshire Middle · Franklin · Berkshire North · Dukes · Berkshire South · Nantucket. all Massachusetts recording offices
Why deeds get rejected in Massachusetts
- In Massachusetts, the QUITCLAIM deed, not the warranty deed, is the standard instrument for an ordinary sale. A Massachusetts quitclaim carries limited covenants and is roughly equivalent to a special warranty deed elsewhere. This surprises people moving from other states.
- Massachusetts registries charge a flat $155 to record a deed, whatever its length, including the $50 Community Preservation Act surcharge (Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 44B, § 8).
- Massachusetts has 14 counties and 21 registry districts. Five counties are split into registry districts: Berkshire (three), Bristol (three), Essex (two), Middlesex (two) and Worcester (two). Record in the district that covers the town (Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 36, §§ 1, 12).
- A registry will not record a deed of recorded land unless it refers to the prior recorded deed or a recorded plan, or states that it creates no new boundaries (Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 183, § 6A). Deedly's deed prints the book and page of your prior deed.
- The legal description must name the city or town where the land lies (Massachusetts Deed Indexing Standard 14-5). Check that the description you copy from your prior deed names it.
- Massachusetts has two land systems: recorded land and registered (Land Court) land. If your deed cites a Certificate of Title number and a lot on a Land Court plan, your property is registered land. Its deed must convey a lot shown on a Land Court plan, cite the Certificate of Title, and be filed with the registry's registered land section, and it transfers title only when the registry registers it (Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 185, § 57). Deedly's deed is written for recorded land. If yours is registered land, ask the registry's registered land section or an attorney before you sign.
- Massachusetts homestead protects a home from creditors; it is not a property tax break. A new owner who lives in the home can record a separate Declaration of Homestead (Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 188, § 5) for up to $1,000,000 of protection. Otherwise only the automatic $125,000 applies (§§ 1, 4).
- Any Massachusetts notary can notarize your signature on this deed, but a notary who is not a Massachusetts attorney may not conduct a real estate closing or act as a closing agent (Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 222, § 17).
- Massachusetts does not recognize transfer-on-death deeds.
From $29. Every Massachusetts rule above is applied automatically, and you read the finished document before you pay.
Common questions
You sign a deed, have it notarized, and record it with the Registry of Deeds in the county where the property sits. Which deed depends on what you're doing: a quitclaim deed, which in Massachusetts carries statutory quitclaim covenants, for a sale as well as for family transfers and adding or removing a name, and a living trust for probate avoidance.
No. Massachusetts does not require an attorney to prepare or record a deed. Use one when ownership is disputed, when the owner has died and the estate has not been probated, when the estate is large enough to owe tax, or when Medicaid planning is involved.
$155 per document. Massachusetts also charges deeds excise tax at $4.56 per $1,000 of consideration ($2.28 per $500), or $6.48 per $1,000 in Barnstable County, where a county excise is added.
No. Massachusetts is not among the 34 states plus DC that authorize a transfer-on-death deed. The usual alternatives here are a revocable living trust or survivorship titling.
Keep reading
- Massachusetts quitclaim deedTransfers the property with quitclaim covenants: the grantor stands behind the title only against claims arising through the grantor.
- Massachusetts general warranty deedTransfers ownership with the strongest title guarantees the law allows.
- Massachusetts special warranty deedTransfers ownership, but only guarantees the title for the period you owned it.
- Massachusetts life estate deedYou keep the right to live in the property for life; named remaindermen own it after you.
- Massachusetts recording officesWhere to file in each county, with fees and contact details.
- Compare all 51 jurisdictionsWitness rules, transfer taxes, and recording fees side by side.
Deedly is not a law firm
Its software and documents are not a substitute for the advice of an attorney. We provide self-help software and state-specific deed forms; you make your own decisions about your property. Using Deedly does not create an attorney-client relationship, and nothing here is legal advice. If your situation is complex or contested, talk to a licensed attorney in your state.